Many applications, including medical and dental applications, rely on data visualization to provide a holistic display of information and to maximize the amount of information that can be conveyed at once. In data visualization, a graphical mapping from an information space to a display space is performed. The process allows a user to visually explore the 3D representations or models of objects. The 3D models become much more useful when they are integrated, that is, when a number of related models are merged and overlaid to provide spatial context, among others.
For example, knowledge of the spatial relationships of the jaws, teeth and cranium is needed in various dental applications. Such relationships include the relative positions of hard structures (teeth and bones) and overlying soft tissues and skin. The customary types of physical record obtained by dental clinicians include photographs of the face (both extra-oral and intra-oral), X-ray images of the skull taken from different projections, and plaster study casts of the teeth themselves. Conventionally, most diagnoses are currently made using 2D photographs, 2D X-ray films and 3D plaster study casts.